A Crash Course Through The Old Testament, Part 6 (Nehemiah)

A CRASH COURSE THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT, PART 6 (Nehemiah)

Welcome to the Something To Gnaw On podcast, a short – parable style devotional…. Usually!   Right now we’re doing a crash course through the Old Testament, designed to give a basic understanding of how it is laid out and hopefully pique your curiosity enough to take the initiative to gnaw on scripture on your own without being intimidated by such a big book.  And if you are a seasoned student of the Bible, just look at this as a refresher course, and hopefully you’ll begin to dig deeper into the Word.

This episode is Part 6 in the series, covering the book of Nehemiah

Peter Robinson was part of the advance team that visited Berlin about a month ahead of the President.  Peter was a bit of an anomaly in the political world – he graduated college, and his first job was writing speeches in the White House, first for George HW Bush, then for Ronald Reagan.

In this advanced visit they took a helicopter flight over, or near, the Berlin wall.  In an article he wrote in 2007, that is in the National Archives (and I’ll have a link in the show notes), he recounts the stark difference between East and West.

One side was busy and vibrant.  Movement on foot, bicycles, cars or busses was the norm.  Buildings were in  decent condition, and architecturally advanced.  And this West Berlin life ran right up to the Wall.   On the other side, was what I would compare to the DMZ, a vast expanse – a void where nothing existed.  In the background were the remnants of the war, old buildings that still had the evidence of WW2 shelling, Spandau prison, and a large expanse of carefully raked gravel that ran right up to the wall..

If feet marks ever appeared in the gravel, the on-duty guard had better have a good explanation why someone made it past their defenses.  

Later that night Peter broke away from the party to have dinner with a few locals.  As happens to most non-residents at some point, Peter asked a question that brought the whole vibe of the table to a screeching halt.   The overly gracious host turned red faced and angry after his question.  His question was simply “have gotten used to the wall?”

One by one they began to recount their stories.  One man recounted that his sister lives 25 miles away and he hadn’t seen her for 20 years.   Another man spoke of his daily walk past the guard tower with an interesting observation, “That soldier and I speak the same language. We share the same history. But one of us is a zookeeper and the other is an animal, and I am never certain which is which.”

Then the host spoke up while pounding one fist into he palm of the other, saying “if this man Gorbachev is serious with his talks of glastnost and perestroika…….”he can prove it, he can get rid of this wall.”

This line gripped Peter and he immediately worked it into his speech, and Reagan loved it.  For the next month though, all the security agencies took pot shots at his work trying to change the verbiage to soften the blow.  They were upset at the uncertainty of Moscow’s response.  It had come to light that the speech would be heard live on radio from Berlin to the Kremlin.

After going toe to toe for a month with individuals like General Colin Powell, Secretary George Shultz, and Howard Baker, and all their henchmen, Reagan delivered Robinsons infamous line “Mr. Gorbachev, Open this gate, Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall.” Delivered in June of 1987. (and if you know these names… you are officially old!  And if you don’t know them…. You’re uneducated… I mean under educated…. Ok I tease a bit much… moving on…)

In 1989, the wall came down.  Families were reunited, and in a sense, prisoners were set free and the oppressed found hope and a future.

As our crash course takes through the book of Nehemiah there are two baseline elements, and the first has to do with a wall.

Today’s story is what I would like to call an inverted illustration, that is to say it illustrates the ultimate point of the restoration and protection of a people, but where the Berlin Wall had to come down to accomplish that – the building of the wall in Jerusalem had to happen to accomplish it.   A wall is good or bad based on whether you are trying to keep people out, or keep people in, and who has the freedom to choose to do so.

So let’s dive into some of the baseline factoids of the story….. again, we aren’t hitting them all – or it wouldn’t be a crash course, but hopefully it’s enough to create a framework of understanding that will help things make a bit of sense when you get to digging into the Old Testament.

Authorship is a bit of an interesting thing with this book.   Even though the title is Nehemiah, and he’s the main character, many scholars believe the book is more of a compilation by Ezra.  And I think this is important to point out because the first part of the book is written in the first person by Nehemiah.  And as you move through the book references move to the third-person, and if you have ever had a friend talk about themselves in the third-person, it can get a bit weird.  My daughter did that once when she was 6…. It was a bit weird…… Cooper is getting hungry, Cooper would like some food, Cooper want’s to watch a movie.

 Anyhow, just an observation and an encouragement to not get hung up on it. 

The main character in this book is Nehemiah and he is a Jew, serving King Artaxerxes in Susa (which is the same town and palace as the events of Esther).  While it is tempting to dismiss the title ‘cupbearer’ as the poor sucker who get’s to die if someone tries to poison the king, it was really a highly distinguished role with much responsibility and honor.  He is a key component to the king’s cabinet.

These events begin nearly 160 years after the Jews were initially taken into exile.  These events take place nearly 90 years after the first wave of Exiles return to Jerusalem.   These events take place nearly 70 years after the Temple had been completed under Zerubbabel.    These events take place approximately 28 years after the events of Esther (if you haven’t heard last weeks episode, you need to get that done before moving on here).  And lastly in  this line of thinking, Nehemiah takes place about 12 years after Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem.

So, just another observation about Nehemiah.   In the first chapter he grieves over the news that the wall’s are in such disrepair that they serve no functional use, and God’s people are over-run and abused by their neighboring countries and people groups.  It is interesting to me that he grieves for a city he knows nothing of, at least first hand.   It would appear that he had a solid familial legacy and a cultural heritage for understanding.  What he has is a dream, he has a Jeremiah 29 promise, but it is being dashed (as so often happens) by the reality of the moment.    

Anyhow, his grief or depression over the matter catches the kings eye, they have a conversation, and the king not only agrees to give him an extended leave of absence and fully fund the operation to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem.  

In the same way that neighboring people groups opposed the building of the temple under Zerubbabel, Nehemiah is opposed almost immediately upon arrival by three ring-leaders my dad used to refer to Sandblast, Toobad, and Gotcha.  Additionally, at one point in time Sandblast enlists a group of people we have already talked about….. the Samaritans.  And we’ll come back to these guys a bit later, because this isn’t just a one time thing… they are bent on the destruction of Israel, and continually pick away at the leadership of Nehemiah, even beyond the building of the wall….. (which, by the way….  Due to Nehemiah’s leadership and the blessing of the Lord, accomplished in 52 days.)  But quickly, they include a murder plot, plans to create a false scandal, and plenty of underhanded dealings.

If anyone listening in is looking for some good reading on leadership, the book of Nehemiah and the book of Joshua should be top of the list.  Keep in mind that as the king’s cupbearer, he had most likely seen some top shelf manipulation and politically underhanded dealings…   I can’t say for sure, but I have a hard time believing that didn’t see the type of behavior that sandblast toobad and gotcvha bring to the table.   

So, we began with the Brandenberg Gate speech about tearing down a wall for the wellbeing of the people.  In Nehemiah 6:15-16, look at the effect of building the wall around Jerusalem for the wellbeing of the people; “So on the twenty-fifth of Elul, the wall was finished – just fifty-two days after we had begun.  When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated.  They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.”

OK, lets call this the mid-roll break……. The second part will be up shortly, as always feel free to take a break and come back later, or simply power on through….

This last week has been a bit of a whirlwind  with the opening of the online store, and black Friday and cyber Monday.  I want to say thank you to those who have taken the time to either purchase a hoodie, or make a contribution to the podcast, your support is vital to expanding the reach of the podcast, and it is much appreciated.   Looking at the success of this last week, I am just grateful for all that God has done, and for your partnership with this podcast.  

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That’s enough for now…. Lets get back to the good stuff.

At the beginning of the episode, I mentioned that Nehemiah had two basic themes to it.  The building of the wall was the first, and the second has to do with building a community – and at the center of that community is the worship of the Lord and adherence to the Law.

At the beginning of our study on the books of Samuel I made mention of the idea that there is always a king and a prophet in these stories.   That is not to say they always got along, buy you see this dual role of leadership where one is focused more on the spiritual welfare of the people than the other.   But nonetheless, you can see this all throughout Samuel Kings and Chronicles.  

While I mentioned the name of Zerubbabel at the beginning of Ezra, I didn’t mention that according to the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, Zerubbabel is the grandson of the last King of Judah… in essence, the messianic blood line flowed thru him.   So when Zerubbabel and Jeshua, The High Priest reach Jerusalem they fulfill these roles.  Now he isn’t listed as a king because they are still technically under the rule of the Persian empire, so the term Governor is best used.

When we get to the Book of Nehemiah, the 1—2 punch is Nehemiah as the Governor, and Ezra as the priests, and they work incredibly well together.

After the wall goes up, the next thing that is listed is that a census is taken, in chapter 8.  I’m sure that was probably an Ezra thing, but who know’s?

Next, we end up with the first mega-church event in Jerusalem, and it would fail all the Americanized seeker-sensitive church dynamics.   They begin by confessing their sins, and the sins of their ancestors.  Then Ezra is standing on an elevated stage, with an entourage of 13 priests. And the order of service is Ezra reading the Book of the Law which results in the vast assembly raising their hands in worship before bowing down with their faces toward the ground.  Oh yeah,….. this part of the service lasts 3 hours.

And that’s not the end of it.   They confess some more and worship some more… for three more hours this goes on.  The service is wrapped up by a 31 verse prayer from the Ezra, and the gist of it is focused on God and who he is and what he’s done, then confession of what they, and their ancestors,  have done wrong, and it ends with a the people signing a pledge to follow the Lord and his Law, there is no praying for new cars, jobs, etc.   It resembles the episode I did on worship, it had a funny title, but a serious message about this very thing in worship, where it’s all about God, and not us, there is no use of the words I ME MY.  That episode is Father Abraham had Seven Smurfs.   And this prayer can be found in Nehemiah Chapter 9.

There is an acknowledgement in this prayer that their forefathers failed to follow, let me just read it real quick:  verse 34 “Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your law or paid attention to Your commandments an Your warnings which You have given them.” And it goes on to say in verse 35 that they “… did not serve You or turn from their wicked deeds.”

It is noteworthy here that as the spiritual leader, Ezra’s prayer leads to a commitment by the people to follow the Lord and His Law.  But this isn’t the first time this has happened.   In Ezra chapter 9, not to be confused with Nehemiah 9, in Ezra 9 the Priest makes the same kind of prayer that focuses on who God is and what He’s done, both in terms blessing and judgement.   This is followed by a confession of sin, sin of the ancestors and of the people living in Jerusalem at the time.  And the prayer is closed up with a call to action whereby the people of Israel make a pledge to repent of their sin’s.

I don’t have time to get into it in depth, but in a few weeks we’ll talk about the book of Daniel in the section called the Major Prophets, and you will find that he prays this same kind of prayer. You can find it in Daniel 9.  And his prayer is answered in dramatic fashion… immediately!

I began with a Ronald Reagan’s quote from the Brandenberg Gate Speech, bear with me while I revisit another quote… this is from his inaugural address in 1967, as he was taking the office of Governor in California.  And let me say that when he uses the word “Miracle” he is referring to the freedom we, as Americans, enjoy:

·         “Perhaps you and I have lived too long with this miracle to properly be appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.  And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.” (https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/january-5-1967-inaugural-address-public-ceremony) 

We see this as true in the transition from Joshua into Judges.   After Joshua, one generation keeps the standard, and the next forgets it and begins the cycle of sinful madness.  I would love to know if this biblical cycle, starting in Judges and moving it’s way through the kings and the exile, I wonder if that cycle of living in blessing, then living in sin, then living in consequence, then crying out to God to be set free had any impact on Reagan making this statement.  It sure looks like it could have.  

And what you have in the book of Nehemiah, especially as the book wraps up in chapter 13, is two leaders in Ezra and Nehemiah who are intensely focused on what it takes to pass a legacy, and are determined to follow the Lord and His law.

Throughout the book, these two go to some pretty extreme lengths to keep the Israelites on the straight and narrow.  There are plenty of stories in Ezra, and I’ll let you read up in chapter 13 about Nehemiah’s exploits, but I will tell you that they are straight up violent in some cases.  Not to be malicious, but these two remember better than others what they left behind.

These two are dialed in on a couple of things.  They have a firm grasp of the consequences of not following the Lord and His law.  The have a firm grasp of what it’s like to live in slavery.  They have a firm grasp of the cost of getting out of slavery, in terms of time – energy – and responsibility.  And they have a firm understanding of God’s promises to honor His word when both are honored.  

So, to rip the beard out of a man that is negligent in his behavior – is to expunge the sin from the camp.  Certainly these guys know the sin of Achen, in which many people died because of one mans disobedience.  As Governor of the Great State of Israel, Nehemiah takes judicial action on behalf of the nation, and with this and a couple more actions to keep Israel on the    straight and narrow, the books of section 2 of the old testament come to an end.

Section 1 was the books of the Law, or the Torah, or the Pentateuch.

Section 2 was the history books

And next week we will dive into the books of poetry which will have been written chronologically within the timeframe of the history books. (and the same dynamic is true in the books of the Prophets).

There is an interesting metaphor in the history books that we can see in each of our lives.   

We were all born into sin, which had a consequence.   A consequence both earthly and eternal.  Those consequences sometimes landed us in things like addiction, or brokenness, or hurt.   Or sometimes someone else’s consequence resulted in our abuse.   Think about the children between 0-13 who had to make the 900 mile trek to Babylon, what did they do?   

No matter how we get there, we find ourselves slaves in Babylon.  And for us living in the Grace of God, we cry out and we are spiritually set free from the consequence of our sin and a journey begins.

And really, it’s a combination of a journey and a battle.  God takes us on a journey to get us where we need to be, and when we get there (and along the way for that matter) we find spiritual opposition, like the Samaritans, sandblast, too bad and gotcha. 

And the temple, that place where the Israelites meet with God,  becomes our heart – our relationship with God, and becomes the focal point of the attack.   All kinds of people want to get in and defile that relationship, which is why it must be guarded.

As a result wall’s need to be built, not to isolate or imprison a person, but to protect the most important thing, these are behaviors, places we frequent, friends we keep, what we entertain ourselves with, to name a few.   We do this to protect our relationship with God from the outside things that would seek to destroy that relationship.  

And when that wall is built, and we are protected from guys like sandblast too bad and gotcha, and their attack from outside the wall, we now find that we have issues within ourselves that need to be dealt with…. That we may well be our own worst enemy…. And we need people in our life, behind the wall, like a Nehemiah or an Ezra, to keep us honest and moving in the right direction.  

And even though the wall is built punks like Sandblast and Too Bad weaseled their way behind the wall to undermine what God was doing in the lives of His people.   So there is a constant vigilance that must take place because complacency perpetuates the cycle.

So, practically speaking, what does this look like for us?

 Maybe it begins by asking the basic questions:

·         What is my Babylon? Or what am I captive to?

·         Has my temple been rebuilt? Or Is my relationship with God what it should be?

·         What are my enemies?  Are they spiritual only? Or are there things in this world that are infringing on my relationship with God? Or are there people that are that are hindering your relationship with God?

·         Do you need to build walls to keep the good in, and the bad out?  Do you need new habits, new friends, new hobbies, or maybe a new job among other things?

·         Do you have people in your life that help you keep on the straight and narrow?  Do you have a Nehemiah?  Do you have a pastor that unapologetically preaches the Gospel?  Do you even have a church? Are you going more than once per week?  Are you looking for a place to serve?

·         And Lastly, in the spirit of this Gnaw Initiative, are you getting in the bible on your own time 4 or more times per week?  (remember Ezra reading the book of the Law for 3 hours straight?)

We have got to learn from history, we have got to learn from this cycle, and in the process – we have got to learn to pass this on to our children ….. and not only learn how to pass it on to our children, but to make sure that we teach them how to pass it on….  We have to be vigilant and intentional about this, both for our sake and theirs.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is the end of what I have for the books of history.  I promise you that there is much more for you to dig into, this is just a taste – a crash course through the books.  I hope that this gives enough of a framework to process what you read, and at the same time, that it piques your curiosity to get into the word for yourself.  

Next week we’ll start into the books of poetry…. Not sure yet if I’m going to hit them all in the same setting or go one at a time.  

Till then

God Bless